Cam cleat

ABSTRACT

A cam cleat for retaining a sheet on a sailboat has cams in the form of toothed shells which provide the main working surfaces of the cams. A rigid plastic insert is fitted into each shell. Each insert is formed with specially shaped entry teeth which enable the sheet to wedge between the cams and open them to receive the sheet when the sheet is moving in a preferred direction.

I United States Patent 1 [111 3,795,218

Merry Mar. 5, 1974 CAM CLEAT 3,352,273 11/1967 Herreshoff ..114 218 1 Inventor Carl Man Planting Island, i'ilifi $51323 5231;111:3333: H1512 Mass. 7

[73] Assignee: Schaefer Marine Products, New Primary ExaminerMilton Buchler Bedford, Mass. Assistant ExaminerGregory W. OConnor [22] Filed. Mar 15 1973 Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Cesari and McKenna 21 App]. No.: 341,678

[57] ABSTRACT A cam cleat for retaining a sheet on a sailboat has CCll. cams in the form of toothed Shells which provide the 1 Y main working surfaces of the cams. A rigid plastic inl [58] Fleld of 114/218 sert is fitted into each shell. Each insert is formed with specially shaped entry teeth which enable the sheet to wedge between the cams and open them to receive the [56] References'cited sheet when the sheet is moving in a preferred direc- UNITED STATES PATENTS tiom 3,265,032 8/1966 Hume 114/218 v 3,750,611 8/1973 Field... 5 Claims, 2 Drawing Flgures 1,520,716 12/1924 Judd ..ll4/2l8 PAIENTED 51974 3.795.218

FIG.2-

CAM CLEAT BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to boating fixtures. It relates more particularly to a cam cleat for securely retaining a line, the cleat also having a quick release capability.

Cleats of this type are used to a great extent to retain the sheet on a sailboat while cruising to relieve the sailor of the necessity of constantly holding the line. Basically, the cleat prevents the sheet from paying out in response to additional tension on the boom, yet permits it to be drawn in by the sailor in the event that the sail slackens when the wind shifts. Most cleats of this type also permit the sheet to be yanked up out of the cleat for quick release in the event that becomes necessary.

Until now, fixtures of this type have been quite expensive to manufacture. This is because the cleat components, particularly the cams, have been constructed of stainless steel in order to withstand corrosion due primarily to salt water. Stainless steel is an expensive material to begin with. Furthermore, it is very difficult to machine. Whilethe portions of the teeth which jam against the sheet to retain it are more or less regular, the teeth portions near the tops of the cams are specially shaped so that when the sheet is drawn down against the cleat and is moving in the preferred direction, the sheet will gradually spread the cams apart and be received between them. Consequently, in the case of conventional cleats, the formation of the specially shaped teeth has involved a time-consuming and costly machining operation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a cam cleat which is less expensive than those presently available.

Another object of the invention is to provide a cam cleat which is rugged and reliable and has a relatively long, useful life.

Other objects will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construc tion hereinafter set forth and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.

In general, the cleat has two opposed toothed cams which are rotatively mounted on a base plate and biased toward one another by an internal spring arrangement. A line pulled down between the cam teeth and moved in a direction opposite the spring bias opens the cams to admit the line between them. However, the toothed cams jam against and grip the line when it tends to move in the opposite direction.

Each cam is comprised of an open-ended, stainless steel shell. The shell is machined with a set of straightedged teeth which bite into the line to prevent it from paying out when the line is in the cleat.

Each cam also includes a special impact-resistant plastic insert which fits down into the top of the shell. The insert has a set'of splayed teeth whose edges curve down and become contiguous with the teeth on that shell. Each cam is rotatively mounted on a base plate pedestal which projects up through the shell into an opening in the plastic insert, the pivot being a screw turned down through the insert opening into the pedestal. A coil spring inside each shell is wound up between the base plate and that shell so that the two toothed cams are biased toward one another.

When the cleat is closed, the shell teeth engage. However, the insert teeth curve apart from one another creating a gap so that they can readily receive a line drawn down between them. The insert teeth are so arranged that they readily engage the sheet as it is drawn down and in the direction opposite the spring bias so that the line gradually spreads the cams apart and wedges down between them. Now any movement of the line in the opposite direction is opposed by the strong, stainless steel shell teeth which firmly bite into the line.

During entry of the line into the cleat, no appreciable stresses or abrasive forces are imposed on the insert teeth. Consequently, even though they are made of plastic, they do not suffer appreciable wear or chipping. On the other hand, the major working surfaces of the cleat which do encounter considerable stress and may be damaged by corrosion are well able to withstand these effects because they are made of stainless steel.

Thus, the subject cam cleat is rugged and reliable in use, yet it is less expensive to make than conventional cleats of this type. This is because it uses considerably less stainless steel. Further as to its stainless steel shells, the requisite teeth being straight and regular can be formed by a relatively straightforward machining operation. On the other hand, the inserts which have the specially shaped entry teeth are formed easily using conventional molding techniques.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference should be had to the follow-- ing detailed description takenin connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cam cleat embodying the principles of this invention; and

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view on a larger scale showing the elements of the cam cleat in greater detail. I

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Turning now to FIG. 1, of the drawing, the subject cam cleat shown generally at 10 is bedded down in a sturdy structural component of the boat indicated at 12 by means of screws 14.

The cleat is comprised of a base plate 16 which supports a pair of opposed toothed earns 18. Both cams are rotatively secured to plate 16 by means of the screws 14 so that they oppose one another.

Cleat l0 retains a line 22 between cams 18 so that the line can be pulled in, Le. downwards in FIG. 1, but cannot move in the opposite direction. However, the sheet can be pulled out from between the cams (i.e. out of the plane of the drawing) in the event that quick release of the line becomes necessary for one reason or another. v

In a preferred embodiment, a U-shaped bracket 24 is provided which is secured to the tops of the cams by the screws 14 extending down through the bracket ears 24a. Thus, the line can slide through the bracket when it is not retained by the cleat; yet, if its end is knotted, it cannot escape the reach of the sailor.

Referring now to FIG. 2, cams 28 are mirror images of one another so, for purposes of this description, we will describe only the right-hand cam in detail. It is comprised of a generally elliptical open-ended shell 28 made of stainless steel or other comparable strong, corrosion-resistant material. An opening 32 through the shell has a major portion 32a which is substantially cylindrical. A leg 32b branches off from opening portion 32a in a direction generally parallel to the long axis of the shell. The outside wall of the shell adjacent leg 32b is machined so that it is softly curved and has a set of transverse straight, regular, wedge-shaped teeth 34. These are the teeth which retain the line 22 when the cleat is in use.

Each cam 18 includes an .insert 36 molded of a suitable strong impact-resistant plastic such as nylon. lnsert 36 has a depending boss 38 which is comparable in size and shape to opening 32 in shell 28 so that the boss can be press-fit into opening 32. Insert 36 is formed with a through opening 42 which is concentric with opening portion 32a when the insert is in place within the shell. Further, the opening is counter-bored at 42a to accommodate a washer 44.

Still referring to FIG. 2, the end of insert 36 which is directly above teeth 34 is formed with teeth 46, the number of such teeth being equal to the number of teeth in shell 28. The lower portions 46a of teeth 46 are more or less the same shape as teeth 34. However, the upper portions 46b of those teeth are rounded. Furthermore, their shape or pitch is such that they present somewhat smooth rounded surfaces to the line 22 when the line is being drawn in.

During assembly of the cleat, a coil spring 48 is engaged over a pedestal 52 secured to plate 16. The lower end 48a of the spring is retained by a small tab 54 projecting up from the plate. The shell 28 with its insert 36 is then engaged over the pedestal 52 so that the upper end of the spring 48b engages against the wall of opening 32. Next, the washer 44 is placed in counter-bore 42a and the screw 14 is passed down through a passage 58 in pedestal S2 and plate 16. Then, a nut 62 is turned down onto screw 14 below the plate to secure the cam to the plate.

A similar spring 48, pedestal 52, tab 54, screw 14,

washer 44 and nut 62 are provided on the opposite side of plate 16 to retain the other cam 18.

When both cams are in place as shown in FIG. 1, they are free to pivot in opposition to the bias provided by springs 48 (i.e. downward in the figure) so that their teeth spread apart to accommodate line 22. Since the teeth 46 on insert 36 are specially shaped to present smooth, relatively even surfces to the line moving in this direction, there is no undue wear or abrasion of that member, yet the line is able to wedge down between the two sets of teeth 46 so as to gradually open the cams and situate itself between them. During this entry process, there are no unusually high stresses applied to the inserts 36 either. On the other hand, once the line 22 is in place between the cams 18, any movement of the line in the opposite direction causes the cam shells 28 to jam together and chock the line.

While the cleat construction described above results in a considerable reduction in manufacturing cost as compared to prior cleats of this type, the fitting is quite rugged. Yet, since its main working surfaces which receive the most abuse are constructed of stainless steel, or other comparable strong, corrosion-resistant material, the cleat has a long, useful life.

It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, among those made apparent from the preceding description, are efficiently attained and, since certain changes may be made in the above construction without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described.

I claim:

1. A cam cleat comprising A. a base,

B. a pair of opposed cams pivotally mounted on the base, each said cam being composed of 1. an open-ended shell made of a corrosionresistant material, the opposed faces of the shells having sets of straight teeth, and

2. an insert made of a hard, impact-resistant mate rial positioned in each shell, each insert having teeth corresponding in number to those on the associated shell, the lower portions of the insert teeth being straight and contiguous with the corresponding shell teeth and the upper portions of the insert teeth being rounded,

C. means for pivotally mounting the cams in spacedapart relation on the base, and

D. means for biasing the two cams toward one another so that their shell teeth oppose one another.

2. The cam cleat defined in claim 1 wherein the insert teeth are formed to present a toothed gap to a line moving between the two sets of insert teeth in a direction opposite the spring bias direction so thatthe line tends to wedge between the insert teeth and thereby open the cams to receive the line.

3. The cam cleat defined in claim 1- wherein the mounting means include A. a pair of spaced-apart pedestals l. affixed to the base,

2. projecting up through a shell, and

3. being rotatively received in the corresponding insert, and

B. means for rotatably securing each cam to the corresponding pedestal.

4. The cam cleat defined in claim 3 wherein the biasing means include a coil spring A. engaged around each pedestal inside the corresponding cam shell, and

B. reacting between the base and the cam to swing the cam about its pivot toward the other cam.

5. The cam cleat defined in claim 1 wherein each shell is made of stainless steel and each insert is made of nylon. 

1. A cam cleat comprising A. a base, B. a pair of opposed cams pivotally mounted on the base, each said cam being composed of
 1. an open-ended shell made of a corrosion-resistant material, the opposed faces of the shells having sets of straight teeth, and
 2. an insert made of a hard, impact-resistant material positioned in each shell, each insert having teeth corresponding in numBer to those on the associated shell, the lower portions of the insert teeth being straight and contiguous with the corresponding shell teeth and the upper portions of the insert teeth being rounded, C. means for pivotally mounting the cams in spaced-apart relation on the base, and D. means for biasing the two cams toward one another so that their shell teeth oppose one another.
 2. The cam cleat defined in claim 1 wherein the insert teeth are formed to present a toothed gap to a line moving between the two sets of insert teeth in a direction opposite the spring bias direction so that the line tends to wedge between the insert teeth and thereby open the cams to receive the line.
 2. an insert made of a hard, impact-resistant material positioned in each shell, each insert having teeth corresponding in numBer to those on the associated shell, the lower portions of the insert teeth being straight and contiguous with the corresponding shell teeth and the upper portions of the insert teeth being rounded, C. means for pivotally mounting the cams in spaced-apart relation on the base, and D. means for biasing the two cams toward one another so that their shell teeth oppose one another.
 2. projecting up through a shell, and
 3. The cam cleat defined in claim 1 wherein the mounting means include A. a pair of spaced-apart pedestals
 3. being rotatively received in the corresponding insert, and B. means for rotatably securing each cam to the corresponding pedestal.
 4. The cam cleat defined in claim 3 wherein the biasing means include a coil spring A. engaged around each pedestal inside the corresponding cam shell, and B. reacting between the base and the cam to swing the cam about its pivot toward the other cam.
 5. The cam cleat defined in claim 1 wherein each shell is made of stainless steel and each insert is made of nylon. 